Alternative Solution
by asteelyman13
Summary: Another human with Soul Reaper powers has been found. But he has some personality issues...
1. Pilot

Hey guys, it's me again. And I'm apologizing for not being the most consistent writer out there. But who am I kidding? I'm not consistent at all! Anyways, I got an idea, please don't kill me, but here it is. If everything goes right, it'll end up being a pretty decent story. If not, I'm still learning, so don't murder me please. As per usual, I don't own the original story, which in this case, is Bleach.

"Well guys, it looks like it's time for me to go. Stop fighting, OK?"

That same dream again? I'm sorry, I should explain. Every night, I have the same dream, or at least, it's similar. I'm in some sort of waiting room. Everything's white, and there's some elevator music playing. Two people are fighting, and one looks exactly like me. The one who looks like me calls it off for a moment, punches me, tells me to let him out every once in awhile, then resumes the fight. They're fighting with real swords, but are so skilled that one cannot land a single blow on the other. Someone sitting in the chair next to me sighs, saying that they're always fighting. We talk for awhile, but I never ask for her name, and she never gives it. I know what the name of one who looks like me is, Jirou. After me and this girl I'm talking to have talked for quite a bit, usually discussing morals and that, I start falling asleep. I know this is when I will wake up. I say some parting words, but it looks like the girl next to me is falling asleep as well. The other two are wide awake, and still fighting. Jirou throws me a dirty look as I wake up. Then it's gone. I don't know if this is what's called lucid dreaming, but I don't think I've seen those other two before, even though they seem really familiar, especially the one I'm sitting next to.

Ah well. Whatever. I guess it's time for me to get ready.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

Damn him. Coming and going as he pleases. I'm stuck in here, this goddamned boring place, fighting with this guy. I'm a lot better than I was when I first started. I was only a kid then. The irritating thing is, that even though I've known this guy since I was a kid, he's still reluctant to tell me his name. We talk sometimes, and I've gotten to know him real well, but he refuses to tell me till I can beat him. Douche. That girl's gone now. The one HE talks to. They leave at the same time. I wish I could leave too. Whatever. Break's over. Time to get back to fighting.

(M.C.'s P.O.V.)

"Thanks for making breakfast mom, it's as good as always." She just smiles at me as I leave for school. Once I get to the bus stop, I meet up with my friends. "You ready for the party tonight?" That's Katashi. We've known each-other for quite a while now. "Of course man. It'll be great!" "So Ichirou, what's new with you?" Minoru, he's a bit of a prankster. "Not much. Same old same old." "Same dream as always?" That's Ren. I've been friends with her almost as long as Katashi. "Yeah. Not much changed in this one. Jirou's still fighting whomever that is, and I'm still talking to this girl." "Well then my good friend, Minoru has the solution for you!" He likes referring to himself in the third person. "He found that elevator music that's always playing. He thinks it'll somehow end this dream of yours," Katashi said. "Yeah, It'll be great to hear something other than that same dream you're always talking about…" "Wait, you didn't like hearing about my dreams Ren? Dang, guess I've gotta come up with another topic!" We laugh, and continue talking. The bus pulls up, and we're off to school.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

Same time as usual. The knowledge comes pouring in. I can't say where from, only that it's the kinda stuff you'd learn in school. I don't even know how I would know that. Occasionally I get glimpses of faces. Two guys, some girl. Other people, except their faces aren't really defined. But it ends. As usual. The knowledge stops, but the faces don't. That's unusual. Wonder what's happening...

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Oh gods, that place is not my scene at all… Oh, there's Katashi and the others. "YO! The Minoru is here, and he's got the jam!" What? I look to Katashi. "He means he has that song. From your dreams." That makes sense. "Well then, what're you waiting for? Play it!" He does. After a minute, I'm not there anymore. I'm in the room. The girl I talk to is here as well. But Jirou and the other fighter aren't. What's going on?

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

God's, why won't it stop? Why won't that awful music ever stop?!" Wait, what's going on here? I'm not in the room any more! I jump up. "YES! FINALLY!" A guy with shoulder-length hair speaks up. "So the song the Minoru brought did the trick?" I look at him. "Who are you?" Another guy, with a buzz cut speaks up. "We're your friends. What, you pulling a prank? That's Minoru's gig man." A prank? What's a prank? "Hey, you OK?" Now the girl's talking as well. God's but the song is still playing. "Can't I ever get away? First in the room, and now that he's finally let me out, here too?" "Dude, Minoru has no clue as to what you're talking about." "THE GODDAMNED MUSIC! IT'S FOLLOWED ME!" "Chill man. Minoru will turn off the song if you want, but you don't have to freak out." "Ichirou, are you OK?" It's the girl again. "Who the hell is Ichirou? Is he that kid who comes into the room every so often." The kid calling himself Minoru pulls up some device, and the music stops. For a moment. Then I'm back. Why? Why won't it ever stop?

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Well this is boring. "Hey, lady, do you know why I'm back here in this room?" "No idea. It may be because your friends started playing that song." "Yeah. Wait, how'd you know about that?" "I'm a part of you Ichirou. I experience the world as you do. I can't act though. I can only experience it from your inner world." "Inner world? Do you mean this place?" "No. It's similar, but not this place." "I don't get it. God, I'm tired. What's going, on…"

I'm on the ground. God, did I fall and knock myself out when the music started. Ren, Katashi and Minoru are surrounding me. "Dude, don't start pranking us like this. Not cool." "What're you talking about Katashi?" "You fell over, started acting all weird, and yelled at the Minoru." "Yeah, it was weird. Also, you acted like you didn't know who you were. You talked about the room." "What? No, I couldn't have. I was in the room, talking to that girl. It started shortly after you started playing the song." They look at each-other. "Minoru thinks Ichirou has a split personality." "That may be it." "Wait, I have a split personality? No way! Wait, Katashi, what're you doing with that board?!" Ouch.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

There he is, that bastard! "YOU! GET OVER HERE!" He gets out of the chair. "What is it Jirou?" "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? YOU LET ME OUT, AND JUST AS THE MUSIC, THAT GODDAMNED MUSIC STOPS, YOU THROW ME BACK IN!" "I don't know. Wait, does that mean you were in control of my body?" "YEAH! WHO WERE THOSE PEOPLE, HUH?" "They were my friends. Wait, you yelled at Minoru." "YEAH, THE KID WHO REFERRED TO HIMSELF IN THE THIRD PERSON? I YELLED AT HIM, SO WHAT?!" "OK, just, stop yelling. Please. Let's just talk." "Fine. Whatever. But this music is still pissing me off…" "I'll tell you what happened." And he did. Told me how he thought this room was just a dream, and how his friend got an idea to make it stop. "That means that whenever you hear that song, I come out." "And I go in here whenever I'm asleep, or am listening to the song. But when I'm asleep, you don't come out." "Actually, why in hell are you in here now?" "Oh. DAMN YOU KATASHI!" "Don't you start yelling after telling me not to." "Yeah, sorry. It's just that my friend smacked me in the back of the head with a wooden board." That's hilarious. "Ah, I'm a little tired now. I think I'll sit down." He's waking up then. "Hey, idiot. Make sure you eat healthily and work out. I want a strong body for when I take over." He just nods. Then he's gone.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Where are my friends? OH GODS! Dead, they're, dead. Torn to pieces. Wait, there's Ren! She's still alive, but bleeding badly. What happened while I was unconscious? Someone's coming. Did they do this? I jump up, yelling at them. "WHO ARE YOU?!" They walk into my line of sight. Some guy, wearing a green and white striped hat. He runs up to me, and smacks his walking stick into me. I fall back. But my body is still there. What? I'm wearing something else now. And I have a sword at my side. "I'm out again! And no music!" My body is getting up. Jirou?! "So you have two souls inside of you? Great! Now, you, the one I shot out of your body, go and find the thing that did this to your friends. It's called a hollow, and it's wearing a mask that looks like bone. Kill it. And you, the other soul, pick this girl up and follow me." Jirou and I look at each-other. We have the same vague thought that we should probably do as this guy tells us. I run away, looking for this monster, and he picks the girl up, and follows the guy.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I'm sitting next to the girl. She's badly hurt. This guy is healing her, somehow. He leaves, and I sit here. Thinking of what to do next. She's waking up. I hold her hand. "Ichirou, you're alive." She barely is able to say this. I shake my head. "Sorry. I'm Jirou. His second personality." She studies my face. "Why are you crying?" I hadn't noticed. "I guess it's because, if I hadn't freaked out on you, you wouldn't have knocked Ichirou out, and, and…" She looks at me in a concerned way. "And I wouldn't have gotten hurt?" I think of what to say. "Not just that. I'm sorry but, your friends, the bald guy, and that other guy…" She's even more concerned now. "They got hurt too." I shake my head. She seems somewhat relieved. "No, they aren't hurt, or in pain. They couldn't feel pain if they wanted to. I'm sorry. They're, dead." Her face is haunted now. "Did they suffer?" "I don't know. We weren't conscious." Her face hasn't changed. "How bad was it?" I think back to the scene. Blood everywhere. A head severed. Limbs torn off. I can't tell her. But she'd find out later anyway. "Horrible. I'm sorry. I'm just glad you aren't dead. That I could save you, at least…" Her face softens. "I, see." I smile at her. "It'll all be fine, now go back to sleep." And she does.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

As I'm running, I hear a scream. I follow it. I won't let another person die tonight. The monster has cornered two people. I draw my sword. I run at it, and it turns. I see the mask, and rage kicks in. I jump from wall to wall, and slice it in half. Then I look to see the people I've saved. But it isn't people. They're ghosts. I can tell, because I just saw their dead bodies. It's Katashi and Minoru. "Dude, you just saved Minoru and Katashi! Thanks man! But what's with the clothes and sword?" "Yeah. Thanks for saving us. We thought we were dead there." I look at them sadly. "About that, Katashi, you and Minoru, I didn't save you, not really. You guys, you're already dead." Minoru looks at me and laughs. "You almost fooled Minoru there man!" I shake my head. "It's not a joke. I saw your bodies, or at least, what was left of them." Katashi seemed to have already realized this. "What's this chain then Ichirou, and why can you see us if we're dead?" "I don't know about the chain, and all I know is that some guy hit me with his cane, and I ended up like this." "Wait, Ichirou. Where's Ren. Is she alright? Is she, you know?" "Last I saw her, she was alive. Jirou took her with that guy." "Jirou? That guy in the waiting room? Your other personality?" "I guess that when the one guy hit me, I was shot out of my body, and Jirou took control." "Minoru doesn't understand, but whatever. Ren's good, right?" "I'm pretty sure. I think I know where she is though. Kinda like my body is pulling me back." "LET'S GO THEN!"

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

The more I sit here, watching her, the more it becomes apparent to me. The real world is excellent. No elevator music constantly being played, and for the first time, I can feel things. I can truly feel the floor underneath me. I can feel something else though. A strange feeling of being pulled towards, something. Not the ground. I'm used to gravity. But I also know that where I am being pulled to, is where Ichirou is. How did we end up like this? This split personality. Cane guy walks back in. "So, what's up with you and that other guy? How was it that he has another soul within him?" I glare at him. "How am I to know?" "Hey, maybe since you two have shared a body, maybe you have a connection as we speak, and could tell where he is." How in hell did he know that? "Maybe." "So how strong is it? Can you tell exactly how far, or is it a certain direction?" I guess that when I think about it, it's only a direction thing. "Hey, do you think that if I forced your soul out of your body, you would be like him? A Soul Reaper?" "I have no idea what this Soul Reaper thing is." "Well, an oversimplified version is that they're people who have a second soul within them, called a zanpakuto. It materializes as a sword." "Well if you're asking if I have a soul other than him, and a sword, definitely. There's this guy I fight with in the room. We have swords that are identical. Ichirou and the girl that shows up with him have swords as well. But they never use them." "So you both have zanpakuto. Interesting. Want to feel life as a soul reaper?" I thought about it. "So long as it doesn't mean going back into that room." He reels back to hit me with his cane. I hear her voice. "Jirou? Are you there?" I feel a little sad. "I'll be back in just one minute. Don't worry. I'll talk to you later. Go back to sleep." She mutters, "Ok," and I'm slammed out of my body.

This feels odd. No. That's wrong. Actually, it feels familiar. It feels like when I'm in the room. I'm in a robe, and my sword is at my side. The cane guy stands up. "Seem's you have Soul Reaper powers, just like Ichigo and Ichirou." **(A/N: I only just realized that both Ichigo and Ichirou's names start with Ichi. Bad word association skills?)** "So there are others, not just me and Ichirou?" "Actually, Ichigo is the only one really like you, in the fact that he's still alive. Soul Reapers are normally those who have long since passed on to the Soul Society." "So they're dead." "Yes. Now, do you know your zanpakuto's name?" "No. I've asked, but he won't tell me till I've beat him one on one." "How well do you know him?" "Not all too well. We talk, but mostly fight." "Here's a suggestion for you, and I'd like for you to pass this on to Ichirou. Get to know them, and understand them. Then ask for their names." I guess a break from fighting couldn't hurt. "I'll try that." "Also, why don't you know him better? It seems that you've been in contact with him for a long time. Why have you been fighting, instead of talking?" "Well, there's this elevator music that plays non-stop. It get's really irritating after 50 or so plays…"

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

He's in there, Jirou. "Come on guys. The guy who got me like this should be able to help you." "Minoru thinks that sounds like a good idea." "Let's just get this over with." We walk in. "Yo, Mr. Cane, I'm back, and I have a few questions!" Jirou walks out of a room. He's wearing a robe like me, and has a sword at his side. "Wait, Minoru is confused, why are there two of you?" "Didn't you listen to what I was saying earlier?" Minoru thinks for a moment, "Nope!" Of course. The Cane comes out of the room. "Ah you've found the spirits of your friends. We can send them to the Soul Society now." "Soul Society?" "It's essentially the afterlife. Now, just put the pommel of your sword on their heads, and that'll send them." "Wait, what if they're sent to Hell instead?!" "Only people who commit horrible crimes are dragged down into Hell. They'll be fine." "Hey, Cane guy, I have one thing to ask you before I'm sent to this, Soul Society." The guy grins. "Sorry kid, but you'll still be bald." Katashi grins a little. "Well, that's good to know, but my real question now. Is Ren alive?" "Don't worry, she'll be fine. Now go, before you two end up becoming hollows yourselves." They turn to me. Jirou pulls out his sword, but I shake my head at him. They don't trust him enough for this. I pull out my sword, and place the pommel on each of their fore-heads. They disappear, each muttering his thanks.

Hey, so that's the first chapter of my story. Let me know what you think, I love getting feedback. And feel free to yell at me all you want if I messed up with Urahara. Seriously, if I messed up with him, I have failed in my life's mission. Have a nice day/night, and now, for a little quote that I've adapted:

Keep

Calm

And

Read

On!

As always, I am, ASTEELYMAN!


	2. Wrath

Heya hiya I'ma back! So, thank you, everyone, who has left a review! I, didn't really expect to get this many, meaning no, I did not expect to actually get a number higher than 0. Anyways, this is awesome. I'll try to throw up my chapters as fast as I can, but, I'm not very good at time management and other stuffs like that...

...Still don't own Bleach. Still am (slightly) insane. Still not dead. ON TO THE STORY!

Also, about the timing, It's before the winter war. All I know past that is that Ichigo does have his Soul Reaper powers, and no, he and Ichirou/Jirou have not met.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

"So Cane guy, how are we supposed to go back into our body? We kinda have school tomorrow." Jirou just looks at me. "You want to go to school, after all this, shit, that just happened?" "Wouldn't it seem suspicious not to?" "DUDE! TWO OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS ARE DEAD, AND YOU THINK NOT GOING TO SCHOOL WOULD BE SUSPICIOUS?!" "Well, when you put it that way, it makes sense." "Just how heartless are you Ichirou?" Heartless? He doesn't know the meaning of the word. "Just enough. Now, Cane guy, how do we go back?" "Well then, I think that, just to be safe, we should have Jirou go first. Just walk over to your body is, and lay down in it." I watch as Jirou does so, and seemingly combines with our body. "Now it's your turn Ichirou." I walk over to the body, but Jirou motions for me to wait, and walks into the next room.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I walk up to Ren. I tap her lightly to wake her. She wakes up slowly, and asks "Ichirou?" I shake my head. "Nope, it's me, Jirou. Don't worry, OK, you just concentrate on getting better. If you ever need anything, just call for me, OK?" She nods her head, and drifts back to sleep. I walk out of the room, and lie down. Ichirou walks over, and lies down into our body. It takes a second. A second of, excruciating pain. And then I'm in the room. I sit in a chair, put my feet up on a table, and call out a greeting to my zanpakuto. For some reason, the music has changed. I wonder why…

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

"Agh!" God, why did that hurt so bad? Cane guy just nodded his head. "I guess some pain is to be expected from shoving two souls into one body. I wonder, Ichirou, do you have frequent headaches?" "One or two per day. Not time specific or anything either. Medication doesn't help." Cane guy just nods his head. "I might be able to make you something to help you out, if you want. But it will cost you." Of course it would. "How much?" He just grins. "10,000 yen up front. Another 10,000 when I deliver." Well isn't he a greedy bastard. "Fine." I hand him 15,000 yen. "The other 5,000 is for helping us and Ren." "Always a pleasure to do business. And please, call me Urahara." Now the Cane has a name. "Very well then. Let me know when this, solution is finished, OK." "Yep, will do! Ururu, show Ichirou out." A young girl comes up and has me follow her. I wave, and leave.

As I'm walking home, I notice two people standing in mid-air, wearing robes similar to what I had been earlier. I stop and watch them, and the shorter one, a girl, notices me. She points at me, and the other one looks at me as well. His face doesn't look to friendly, so I make a faint comment about the weather, and hope they buy it. They seem to, but I can also feel them watching me from a distance as I go home. The odd thing is that he had seemed familiar. I think I've seen him at school, but then again, I don't necessarily socialize with anyone.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

"And here he is, the man himself. Ichirou, tonight, you're going to get to know your Zanpakuto better. And I'm going to do the same. And then tomorrow night, you're going to go through some combat training with me. I can't have you dying on me." He just sighs, and turns to his Zanpakuto. I look to mine.

"I guess I'll just start out with an introduction. I'm Jirou." I hold out my hand, but he just looks at it. "Yes, I knew that. What is it you want?" "I just want you to tell me your name." He smiles. "Of course. I can tell you now." "Wait, why can you tell me now, when you used to not be able to?" "This world, or waiting room, is directly influenced by both your and Ichirou's inner worlds. His influences what is here, and yours influences the atmosphere." "What do you mean by atmosphere?" "One noticeable thing is the music." Does that the reason why the music changed, is I changed? An odd idea, but it also makes sense. "So then, what is your name?" "Ikari. That is my name, which you can use to call forth your Shikai. But, the reason you can now hear my name, is not because you have a change in your inner world." "It isn't? What is it then?"

It's silent for a moment. "You have something you can become truly angry over. Your wrath from the music was just a farce, just you hating some element of yourself. Self-hatred cannot activate my power." "How do I activate this Shikai?" "You must use my name." I look at the blade in my hands.

"OBLITERATE, IKARI!" The blade in my hand glows, and changes form. It now has the shape of a falchion. I swing it a few times. But there is no power difference between when I was using the original form. "My power can only truly be used when your rage is not selfish." I understand why he could not tell me his name. When I was angered over the music, the anger was to my benefit, or rather, detriment. "I see. Thank you for telling me this. Now I know how to become truly strong."

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

"So, I have no idea what to say to you, or how to get you to tell me your name." My Zanpakuto looks at me. "You can only hear my name once you accept the ultimate truth of your personality." Ultimate truth? "Are you talking about what Jirou had hinted at before? That I have no capacity for human feelings?" She just nods. "I would like to argue that I do, but I know that would be a lie. I only had friends, so as to leach off of theirs. Very well. I accept. I am not human in my heart." She nods once more. "Then you should be able to hear my name. It is Mukanshin." "Nice name. But I have to ask, why are you a girl? Jirou has a male Zanpakuto, so why are you female?" She laughs. "Ask yourself. It was you who made me end up being a woman." Makes sense.

"Enervate, Mukanshin." The sword glows from its sheath at my side. Then I find that I am wearing a bracer on my right arm, with many small blades coming off the back edge of my arm. My Zanpakuto pulls out her blade, and I lunge forward with a punch. She dodges it, and strikes. It slides off of the blades of my arm. I realize that one blade has been moving whenever I clench my fist. I do so, and it moves to the top of my knuckles. I open it, and it returns to the side. Excellent. I spend the rest of the night fighting, and getting used to my new weapon.

I went to school. There was no doubt that everyone already knew that Kakashi and Minoru were dead. I didn't care if they thought me heartless. I just wanted to be there. I go throughout my normal routine, and when lunch comes, I head to my normal spot. One of the larger broom closets. Katashi, Minoru, Ren, and I would all eat here. Of course, that was only because they would follow me here. As I am eating, someone opens the door. Three others come in. I don't spare them a glance.

"Damn, aren't you a heartless bastard Ichirou, coming here after two of your friends die, and the third is badly injured." I ignore them. "You know, I bet you'd still come here if they had all died." I continue ignoring them. "I doubt he'd even care if we raped and killed the one who's still alive!" I feel some sort of attention drawn to them, but it isn't mine. "Yeah, let's do that. We already know where she is. Hell, maybe if we're lucky, the torture from being raped alone will be enough to do that bitch in!" My head feels like it's being split apart. God, what's happening here?! I cradle my head in pain…

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

"Look, he can't even handle us saying we'll rape her! That's hilarious! Maybe he actually has a heart after all!" I stand up. "Who are you? Where are we? How did I get here?" They look at each-other and laugh. "Damn Ichirou, you got a bad memory or something? That's great!" I glare at them. "I'm not Ichirou. I'm Jirou. And why am I in control? What did you do?" They laugh some more. "Ah man, Ichirou, I didn't know you liked to act like a little hero, OK, we'll play along. You see we didn't do anything to Ichirou, Jiroo, we just said that we were going to rape and kill your only remaining friend, that Ren girl." "I see."

I look at the three of them. "Let me show you what happens when you threaten her." They start laughing again. But they aren't for long. A few punches to each of their guts, and a broken finger or two makes sure of that. I mess up my hair, and leave for that Urahara guy's shop.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Damn. For some reason, the music in here has changed to some sort of metal. Something's going on out there. I can feel a pulsing wave of a single emotion: Pure, and unfiltered rage.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I've found the shop. "URAHARA WHERE ARE YOU?!" A large man comes out and glares at me, then takes me inside. As I walk through the shop, I see a young girl and boy. The man takes me into the room where Ren is, looking at me standing in the doorway. It's obvious that she knows I'm mad. I go and sit down next to her, staring at the ground. I feel her hand on mine, and look up. She's smiling. My anger melts away.

"How are you Jirou?" I look up, surprised. "How did you know it was me?" She laughs lightly. "Ichirou would never be that mad, and if he were, he wouldn't calmly sit next to someone." I smile weakly. "I see. That makes sense." She sits up. "So why were you so mad?" I'm staring at the floor again. "A few people were harassing Ichirou. I took over for some reason, although I think I know why." She motions for me to continue. "Immediately after, they thought that I was Ichirou pretending to be a hero, and repeated what they had said they would do." I look to her. "They said that they were going to rape and kill you. I beat them when I heard that."

Why is she hugging me? I hesitantly hug her back. I hear her whispering to me softly. "Thank you. Thank you for defending me." I'm shocked when I hear this. Then I hear tapping on the door. We release our embrace, and I turn to see Urahara. "Jirou, would you mind letting Ichirou back in control? I have something to show him." I nod, and release some tension that I had forgotten about. I fall forwards, holding my head in pain.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I stagger to my feet. Urahara is standing in front of me, holding out his hand. "I'll need that other 10,000 now." I give him the money, and he takes me into another room. There's another of my body there. "It's called a gigai, or rather, a fake body." I look it over. It's flawless. "How did you complete it so quickly?" He smiles and scratches his head. "I don't know either. Normally it takes quite a while to make one." "Well then, punch me out with your cane." "Sure thing Ichigo." The hell? "Uh, I'm Ichirou." "Oh, whoops. Well, your names are similar…" "Who is he?"

Urahara explains Ichigo to me. "I think I saw him yesterday. Him and some girl were standing mid-air." "Ah, so he's still going around with Miss Kuchiki then?" So that's her name, or at least his last name. "I guess so. So, are you going to force me out of my body or what?" "Oh yeah! I'd forgot about that." He brings his cane up and smacks it through me. I don't think I'll ever get used to that, or the feeling of leaving my body.

I walk over to my new gigai and lay down into it. It's a little weird. I know this isn't my real body, but it seems real enough…

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I stand up, and notice myself doing the same. I mean Ichirou. "Wait, Ichirou, why are you using the gigai?" He smiles at me and laughs. "I just think that the one with the soul that is less human, should have the fake body. You actually have emotion, so you get the real one. Also, there's less hassle if we have to combine or split." It makes sense. "Well then, should we check in on Ren?" He just nodded. We walk into the room she is in, Ichirou leading the way. She sits up and looks right at me. "Hey Jirou." I'm a little surprised, and Ichirou voices that surprise for me. "How did you know it was him?" She smiles a bit. "Little things. A girl has to have her secrets after all." I smile at her and sit next to her.

Whelp, that's that. Thanks for reading. Also, thank you, all of you, for making this my most popular story. I'm just starting out here, and I've gotta say, this is super surprising! Thanks everyone for your replies. Also, I'm going to do my best to reply to reviews. I haven't had time to yet, but I will. It's just a way for me to say thank you to everyone who reviews. Anyways, thanks again guys, have a nice night/day, and, as per the usual…

I, AM, THE ONE, THE ONLY, (I THINK,) ASTEELYMAN!


	3. Soul Reapers

OK and I am back. I took a bit off, (forgot to write) and now I have to re-read a bit…

...OK, now I remember the story. Remembering is, an issue, for me. Anyways, I've got another question to answer, and it is, "Do Ichigo and Ichirou go to the same school?" He's 17, or rather, a junior in the same school. He's two years older, so basically, he looks like an adult, because for some reason people look a lot older than they really are. I mean, look at Chad! He looks like a freakin' 18 year old! Possibly older! Anyways, have fun reading. Oh and I don't own Bleach.

(Ichirou's P.O.V)

"Jirou, you stay here, I'm going out." He doesn't even notice me leave. Urahara is leaning against the wall outside the room. "Where can I find more of those things? I want to kill them." Urahara smiles at me, and hands me what looks like a cell phone. I flip it open. "A GPS huh?" "Actually Ichirou, it's called a Denreishinki. It helps detect reishi, as well as being able to contact others with these. I'm giving Jirou one too, and have already saved the contact info for his, and my phones." I find the contact list, and see "Helpful shopkeeper" and "Second soul guy" logged in it. I try calling Urahara's number. Nothing happens. "So, Urahara, where is your Denreishinki?" He laughs. "Just call it a phone. And I have it turned off." I change his contact name to Urahara. He isn't that helpful. "Turn me Urahara."

I'm smacked out of my body. He hands me a glove with a flaming skull on the palm. "Now you won't bug me when you need to go into your shinigami form. I'll give one to Jirou as well." I flip open my new phone and go to the reishi detection thing. I see a blip southwest of me. Time to get going.

I run to where the hollow is. Just as it comes into sight, someone appears next to it. That guy with orange hair. He kills it, and that girl shows up shortly afterwards. I'm hiding around a corner while watching, and see her point towards me. I climb a dumpster that was conveniently right there. They arrive not a second after I'm fully underneath, and start talking. "Hey pipsqueak, there's no hollow here." Silence for a moment. "It has to be, the Denreishinki is never wrong." I hear someone opening the dumpster above me. Good thing I'm hidden under some trash, although it's pretty disgusting. "There's nothing here Rukia. And if there were, it would have attacked as soon as we got close." I hear a feminine sigh. "Fine. I guess we should go see Urahara." They leave. That was a close one.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

Me and Ren have been sitting in awkward silence for maybe 20 minutes or so. "URAHARA WHERE ARE YOU?!" I haven't heard that voice before. Although, my experience is pretty limited. I look to Ren questioningly. "I don't know who that is either." "Oh, hey Ichigo, Rukia, what's up?" A female voice answers, "My denreishinki is malfunctioning." "How about her?" "I don't know who she is either." The male voice again. "Who is that Urahara?" I hear him laugh. "Oh, that's probably Jinta and Ururu." "Jinta is standing behind you Urahara, and Tessai is next to you. Who is here?" He laughs a little nervously. "Oh, nobody important, just some customers!" Jinta and Tessai. Those names are new. "As if you actually get customers other than us and some other Soul Reapers. Who is it Urahara?" We hear someone get hit. "I actually do get customers and they all leave satisfied!" I laugh a little. "Looks like Urahara is butthurt." Ren laughs a little.

"OK, really Urahara, who is here?" It seems like Urahara is getting impatient. "It's no one. I'm telling you. Now leave." I hear someone walking towards the room we're in. Suddenly the door is yanked open. I am greeted by the sight of an orange-haired teenager. "So these two are no one Urahara?" Urahara walks into sight scratching his head, followed by a girl. "Well, I guess the game is up." "Ichigo, this is the guy from last night." The boy looks at me closer. "I guess. Wait, that means he could see us last night too!" Who are these people? "Who are you?" the girl asked. "My name is Jirou. Who are you, have we met before?" "You tell me, you were staring at me and and Ichigo like an idiot."

"I think I know what happened. That was probably Ichirou." They share a confused look. "But it was obviously you!" I laugh. "Oh, me and Ichirou are kinda alternate personalities, although Urahara had split our souls apart." The girl is a little surprised. "Does that mean you are a Soul Reaper?" I nod. "Ichirou is as well." She glares at Urahara. "Why didn't you tell us before that there were other Soul Reapers who were still alive?" Urahara laughs, and runs away. "Hey guys, just to let you know, Ichirou is almost back." The guy called Ichigo puts a hand on his sword. I take the glove that Urahara gave me and smack my chest. I fall out of my body. "If you're looking for a fight, Ichirou is not your guy. I am." He smirks. "Really? How much fighting experience have you had?" It's my turn to smirk. "13 years, you?" His face droops. "Less than a year." The girl laughs. "I've had roughly 50." I look at her. "Old hag." She doesn't take too kindly to this. "What did you just call me?" Ichigo looks like he's almost ready to laugh. "An old hag, but by hag I meant wise woman." Her eye twitches. "Don't say anything else, and I won't tell the Soul Society that you're a rogue Soul Reaper." I nod. "Very well then. HEY ICHIROU! STOP LAGGING OUTSIDE AND GET IT HERE!" The two look behind them as Ichirou walks up. I go up to him and punch him.

"You let these two get to the hollow before you? Tch." He's rubbing his arm. "Shut up, I didn't see you doing anything." The girl speaks up. "Were you that spiritual pressure we found earlier?" He nods. "I was under the trash." "So why did you hide from us again?" Ichirou shrugs and I punch him. "SO YOU HID FROM THESE IDIOTS WITHOUT EVEN HAVING A GOOD REASON TO?!" He just nods. I punch him again. Idiot. I turn back to the two Soul Reapers. "I have a question for you two." "What is it?" the girl asks. "What if I were to remain in the Soul Society as a legitimate Soul Reaper, while Ichirou helps out here, and when my training is finished, we can switch off?" The girl thinks about this. "It might work. We'd have to convince the Captain-commander though." I spare a quick glance to the oblivious person to my side. "Let's do that then. But I have one question." "What is it?" "Do you think I'll be able to come back at least once a week? I don't know how prolonged separation from Ichirou would affect both of our souls." She nods. "Ichirou, take care of Ren or I'll kill you. I'll see you as soon as I can." I turn to the girl again. "Can you take me there now?" "Yes, follow me." We go outside, and she creates some sort of gate. Time to go.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I look at the Soul Reaper next to me. "So who are you?" "Ichigo Kurosaki, I'm a substitute Soul Reaper." "Ichirou Hayato, Junior at Karakura High." He looks at me sharply. "You go to Karakura High?" I nod. "How come I never see you around?" "I don't talk to anyone. Well, that's not true, I talked to my friends, but two of them died yesterday, and the third was injured and is staying here." "Sorry about that. How'd they die?" "Hollow, naturally. Killed it though." He laughs. "So that was the hollow that disappeared last night. Rukia was so annoyed, thinking that her phone or whatever wasn't working!" "I see." "That must be how you met Hat n' Clogs as well." "Yeah, though I call him The Cane." He shrugs. "Either thing works." "Can I ask you a favor Ichigo?" "What?" "Three Seniors threatened to rape and kill Ren earlier today. Could you help look out for her?" "Definitely, although you probably had best tell Hat n' Clogs as well." I nod, and Urahara runs in. "Oh, so some kids want to defile a girl who's in my care? Don't worry Ichigo, I'll keep her safe, and Ichirou, thanks for offering your help!" We glare at him. "You did that on purpose." As he runs away, we hear him yelling back at us. "THAT IS TRUE!" Damn him.

(Jirou's P.O.V. | Soul Society)

This place feels different. I can feel energy coursing around me. This world is overflowing with energy. I follow after the girl. We walk throughout a maze of streets, before coming upon a man wearing a haori. "Rukia, how nice to see you again!" She smiles at him. "It's nice to see you up and about Captain Ukitake, it seems you're doing well." He nods and smiles. "Yes, and the air is great today. Now who is this with you?" I bow slightly, "My name is Jirou Hayato, very nice to meet you sir." He smiles at me. "So, what are you doing now Rukia?" "I'm taking him to see the Captain Commander. He wants to be a Soul Reaper." Ukitake laughs, "It looks like he already is one!" She shakes her head. "No, he's another human with Soul Reaper powers, like Ichigo." Ukitake nods. "Well then, good luck Rukia!" We thank him, and walk away.

We walk up to some sort of barracks. Rukia knocks on the door, and a man opens it. She talks with him for a minute, and we are taken through the barracks, and stop in front of one of the rooms. He knocks, and we enter a moment later. "Captain Commander, I have a request to make of you." An old man looks to Rukia, then looks away. "Sir, I request that you admit this man, Jirou Hayato, into either Shin'o Academy, or possibly one of the 13 court guard squads." He turns to us, and walks up to me. "He has potential. Tell me boy, what do you desire from a life as a Soul Reaper?" "I want to hone my fighting skills, and defeat hollows, and any other threats. I want something that I can be ready to fight for." The old man nods. "We'll determine how powerful you are as a Soul Reaper, then you may either enter Shin'o Academy or a squad, based on how well you do." I nod my head.

"Begin!" I'm in an arena, filled with a multitude of graduates from Shin'o Academy. I draw my zanpakuto, and jump into the fray. I score quite a few hits. I don't get hit, because of my extensive training. Suddenly I hear someone yell. "STOP! PLEASE DON'T!" I jump out and turn to the commotion. I see one of the graduates, clearly driven by bloodlust, about to finish off one of his peers. I run up and barely block him. He laughs, telling me he'll kill that person, no matter what. I won't let them die. I break away from him, and we both jump back. I glare. I hate people like him. I calm myself of my personal hatred for him, which only makes my selfless hatred stronger. I glare at him, and hold my blade at an angle. Then, I scream out. "OBLITERATE, IKARI!" My blade changes to a falchion. I can tell that it has much more power than before. Raw power, without shape. I change my stance, and motion for him to attack.

He dashes forward with a flurry of attacks. I block them with ease, not moving an inch. He retreats to regroup, and I know it's my turn to attack. I jump towards him, each of my massive attacks forcing him back more than a foot. He's quickly losing confidence. Finally, I stagger him, and with an attack more powerful than all preceding it, I slash at him. He blocks, and but my blade cuts through his zanpakuto like a hot knife through butter. I turn back to the fray as he falls to his knees, and rejoin it, noticing that the power of my zanpakuto has receded. I continue the fight, earning myself a few nicks. I think I've done pretty well…

Another day, another chapter. And hey guys, guess what my christmas present to you is? Another chapter. I'll throw one up on christmas day, OK? Please review, and have a good day, or night. See ya' later! I am, will be, and have always been, ASTEELYMAN (13)!


	4. Soul Society & an Angry Zanpakuto

Hey guys! So, actually, I was incorrect in the last chapter. I haven't always been Asteelyman. I have used other usernames. BUT THAT IS IN THE PAST! And you don't want to hear about that, you want more of the story don't you? Yeah, you do. I KNOW you do. So here it is. But first I must warn you, I do not own Bleach.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

It's a little depressing. I'm in the room. There isn't any music. Nothing. It's probably because Jirou is in the Soul Society. "Ichirou, concentrate." I shake out of it, and get ready to spar some more with my Zanpakuto. She shakes her head. "Nevermind. Idiot, you wasted all our training time thinking." I nod. I can tell I'm about to wake up. "Yes ma'am. I'll work harder tomorrow night." She nods tiredly. We wake up.

"G'morning mom," I say as I walk into the kitchen. She smiles at me, and puts my breakfast in front of me. "Hey mom, could I have some coffee as well?" She gives me a weird look. "You hate coffee." I nod tiredly. "I know, but I'm really tired today. Please?" Why am I so tired? She smiles at me, and brews me a cup. I finish my breakfast, and she passes me the cup. I sip it, and once it's gone, I go back downstairs and get ready for school. I'm still tired. I go back upstairs and brew myself a thermos of coffee to drink on the way to school.

I'm get to school, and I've already finished my coffee. I'm a little bit more awake. As I reach the school gates, someone with bright orange hair walks up to me. "Yo, Ichirou!" I look up. It's Ichigo. He sees how tired I am and laughs. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Three others walk up. "These guys are Uryu, Chad, and Orihime. Guys, this is Ichirou." I blink and look at them. The guy he called Chad is extremely tall. The other boy seems like your average nerd, and the girl has orange hair, like Ichigo. I greet them tiredly. "So, Ichigo, this guy is a Soul Reaper as well," states Uryu. I nod. The guy named Chad seems indifferent, but the girl seems a little excited. I hear someone running up behind me. It's the girl from last night. "Hello, Rukia, was it?" "You got it right. Jirou's doing well in Soul Society." "That's good to hear." I hear someone running towards us. They yell. "ICHIGO!" He looks like he's about to tackle Ichigo, but fails at the last second, due to Ichigo moving out of the way. Another guy walks up calmly. "Oh yeah, this is Mizuiro, and the one on the ground is Keigo." I greet them tiredly. Keigo starts to whine to Ichigo, and then I black out.

I'm in the room. For some reason, the music is here. It's going crazy. Something must be really intense over there. It's fading out now though. I'm not waking up though. I know that the music isn't what took me here. I turn to look at Mukanshin. She's not happy.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

That was awesome. An all-out battle between graduates of Shin'o Academy. I'm exercising in the arena. Everyone else has left, and it's now being cleaned. I hear someone approaching me. I shake myself off, and turn to them. It's a man wearing a haori and a little girl with pink hair. The guy has spiky hair, with little bells at the ends of it, as well as an eyepatch over his right eye. I can tell he's fought with a great many opponents. "What's your name kid?" "Jirou Hayato." "So you're a Shin'o Academy graduate." "No sir, I am not." He grins at this. "So how did you get into the battle, did you sneak in, or did you fight your way in?" "Neither, Captain Commander Yamamoto had me enter to show whether I was worthy or not." He nods. "So how long have you been fighting kid?" "I've been fighting for 13 years." "So 13 years and you've unlocked your Shikai. That's pretty good kid, although I know someone who got their Bankai within a year of becoming a Soul Reaper, and an unofficial one too!" I smile. "I think I know the guy you're talking about. He a human with bright orange hair and a huge Zanpakuto?" "Yeah, that's him. One of my best fights in recent memory. But enough about him. What was your Shikai back there?" "Well, let me show you."

"Obliterate, Ikari." My zanpakuto changes to its falchion form. I swing it a few times. "It doesn't have the power behind it like when you were fighting earlier." I shake my head. "My Shikai's power comes from pure rage. Even so, my zanpakuto is damningly specific." "How so?" "The rage that fuels it cannot be for myself. It cannot come from my own hatred. It has to be hatred on another person's behalf. Selfless rage, if you will." He looks at me for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but I do know that generally, the more specific parameters the power has, the stronger it is." "I see." "Also, some of the better fighters I've fought, weren't at their strongest when fighting for themselves. They are more powerful when fighting for someone else. Your friend Ichigo included." I guess it makes sense.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

She's pissed. I have no idea what made her this mad, but all I know is that I had really better start apologising, if I value my life. "I'MSORRYPLEASEDON'TKILLMEMUKANSHIN!" She's still mad, but not as mad as she was. "You make sure to behave yourself out there, Ichirou. If you do one thing wrong, I'll kill you." I don't even know what I did wrong in the first place. Wait a second… "Wait, if you are the literal embodiment of my apathy, why are you so mad?" I catch a very slight red tinge to her face. "NO REASON YOU IDIOT NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" I jump back with a "YES MA'AM!" Of course, when I land, I stumble and knock myself out on the table behind me.

Everyone's crowded around me. I blink a few times, and get to my feet with Ichigo's help. Everyone looks a bit concerned. Ichigo hits me on the shoulder. "You good?" "That was one of the more frightening experiences of my life." Everyone looks at me oddly, and I wave it off. "I'll tell you guys more about it later," and head off to class. One of them asks Ichigo if he thought I was O.K. and I feel something inside of me. A tinge of anger. But why would I be angry? I can't even feel emotion. I look at them and see him replying to the orange-haired girl's question. I move on after feeling another tinge of anger.

Gah, class is irritating. I'm pretty sure that the anger I'm feeling is Mukanshin, although I have no idea why. It happened again during class as I thought about the events of the morning. Just before I blacked out, to be specific. As for why I can tell it's anger, I wasn't always apathetic. I had emotions once, but I think they all transferred over to Jirou when he came to existence. I'm walking down the hall to my normal spot, when I notice two people running up to me. It's Rukia and the orange-haired girl, Orihime, I think it was. More anger.

We're on the roof now, all of us eating our lunches, and talking. Those two, Keigo and Mizuiro, are somewhere else apparently. "So, Ichirou, what were you talking about when you said that you had a frightening experience in while you were out?" I scratch my head. "Well, I guess Mukanshin, my zanpakuto, was pissed off at me for one reason or another, so she drew me into the room to yell at me. She wanted to kill me, I swear. Hell, I can tell that she's still pissed off at me." They all just laugh, with the exception of Uryu. "Oh yeah, Ichigo, I should show you my Shikai." "Sure, why not." I put on the glove Urahara gave me and smack myself in the chest. No one is looking at my limp body though, all eyes are on my spiritual form. "Wait, Ichigo, are all these guys soul reapers?" "Of course I'm not you idiot, I am a Quincy, don't go comparing me to a Soul Reaper," Uryu states. "What's a Quincy?" He shakes his head. "I'll tell you later. First, let's see this Shikai of yours." Very well then. I pull out my zanpakuto. "Enervate, Mukanshin!" Nothing happens. "What the hell? It's not working!" I try again, but still, nothing. "Hey Ichigo, think you could knock me out?" My answer is a punch in the face.

That hurt. Alot. I stand up and dust myself off. "Hey, Mukanshin, why won't you let me use my Shikai?" She just turns her head away from me. "Catch me and I'll tell you." Tch. Fine then. "OK, but get ready, I'm not going to let you outrun me." I start running after her, and she runs away. I catch up to her, and grab her arm. "So, are you going to tell me now?" She laughs, breaks away from me, and starts running again. We do this a few times, before I'm just done with it. I'm running for her, and I tackle her. I'm pinning her down now. "Why won't you let me use my Shikai?" Her face is red for some reason. "GET OFF OF ME!" She starts to squirm. "Tell me, and I will." I wake up.

"SHE FORCED ME OUT!" Ichigo is laughing at me. Why did she force me out? "What did you do to make her force you out?" I explain what happened. When I say that I had her pinned down, Rukia interrupts me. "Was her face red?" I nod. "Well, she must have been extremely embarrassed when you pinned her down." That makes sense. Ichigo snickers. "What?" He's laughing out loud now. "DAMN! I DIDN'T KNOW ZANPAKUTO COULD BE LIKE THAT!" He's absolutely roaring with laughter. "Like what?" Everyone is starting to laugh now, even Uryu. "WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT?!" Rukia stops laughing long enough to tell me this, "Well then, you definitely have your hands full with your Zanpakuto, Ichirou…" I feel like there's some hidden meaning, but I can't figure out what it is…

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

"So, who exactly are you?" The guy I've been talking to grins at me. "I'm Kenpachi Zaraki, the Captain of squad 11." "You're a Captain? That's cool." "So how about it kid, want to join squad 11?" "When do I start?" He turns around, and I follow him. "Ken-chan, why is he ignoring me?" I look around surprised. Where did that come from? Then I notice something clinging to Zaraki's back. It has pink hair. I smack myself. "Sorry, I didn't notice you there. What would your name be?" The pink-haired girl laughs at me. "I'm Yachiru!" I smile at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jirou." She looks at me for a minute. "I need to think of a nickname for you!" I laugh a little. "I look forward to hearing it."

After travelling for a while, and getting lost multiple times, we finally arrive at what I can only assume is the squad 11 barracks. "Hey, Captain Zaraki, why are you and her always getting lost here?" "Yachiru and I both have horrible senses of direction." That can't be it. "Are you sure?" "Yeah. I'm sure." "Hey, Captain Zaraki, what if it wasn't your sense of direction that got you lost?" He looks at me. "What are you saying?" "What if someone was messing with you, and somehow re-arranging the walls here?" He seems to think about it for a second. "As long as it doesn't interfere with my fights, I don't care." Makes sense.

(Earlier in the Department of Research and Development)

A man sits in front of a computer. On the screen it shows an aerial view of three people running through what looks like a maze. Every so often, the man pushes a button, and a new wall appears around the corner from the trio, blocking off their route. This continues for a while, the man laughing lightly each time he does this, until they arrive at the squad 11 barracks.

(Present)

We walk up to the barracks, and Captain Zaraki throws open the doors. We walk inside. The second I step in, a bald guy runs up to me. "HEY! New guy, let's fight." I guess this is pretty much fight club. "Sure, why not." He takes me through the barracks, and we exit through the back, to find a small arena. We get ready to fight. "I heard about your skills during the free-for-all. Let's see just how good you are." I smile. "My limited reputation proceeds me. Well, I probably won't be as strong as I was in that fight. My Shikai depends on certain circumstances to be more or less powerful." He glares at me. "The circumstances of the fight don't matter. Only pure skill and strength do." I get into a fighting stance. "Then I will fight you, and prove that my years of training have paid off." He readies himself. "I think this'll be a good fight."

We spring at each-other. I make the first strike at him, which he blocks. We break apart, and the true fight starts. We exchange a flurry of blows. We fight for a couple of minutes like this, neither being able to land a blow on the other. He forces me back. "You're good. But not good enough to make me use my Shikai." I grin and attack with increased ferocity. We fight, and I keep attacking with more and more power, with me slowly forcing him back. He grins at me. "I guess I was wrong. Extend, Hozukimaru."

I AM SO SORRY! I FAILED HORRIBLY, AND DID NOT PUT MY STORY UP CHRISTMAS DAY! Sorry about that again guys. Please review, and I hope you liked the chapter. I should have a new one up soon. I wish you a nice day/night, and, once again, I must say that I am, indubitably, (I LOVE THAT WORD), ASTEELYMAN!


	5. Resolving issues and fighting

Hello again! Thanks again, Anime watcher524 for reviewing my story. It always gives me motivation when I see a new review, so thank you. Awesome. Well, I guess it's on to the story then. I don't own Bleach. And I have no idea what to say in this intro, so yeah…

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

The sword of the man I'm fighting changes, turning into a spear. But then he pulls it apart, It's a sansetsukon, interesting. "Well then I suppose we should start this for real, right Baldy?" He looks seriously pissed now. "I'm not bald, I'm shaven…" I, think he's mad. And I've got a feeling that anger makes him more serious when he's fighting. He attacks, and I'm immediately on the defensive. His attacks are relentless, and I'm being pushed back, I don't even have a chance to retaliate. "Obliterate, Ikari!" My opponent jumps back, and I have just used my trump card. I rush him, attacking left and right, and it takes him a moment to realize that nothing has changed. He forces me back again, and we continue fighting. It goes on for a while, but eventually, I am no longer able to fight. I concede, and fall over.

"Well wasn't that pathetic." I struggle to my feet. "You think you could have done better?" He shakes his head. "No, it just made me realize that I shouldn't hold back when fighting you." He's been holding back? "Are you ready for the next level of training, Jirou?" I grin. "Ikari, I'm always ready to improve." He looks at me blankly. "Obliterate, Ikari." His blade changes, and I do the same. "Obliterate, Ikari." We attack each-other. "This part of your training, Jirou, is to help you harness my powers more completely. You need something you can be angry about at any given time, so that you can use your Shikai on command. I have something, and you must find your own." He continues attacking me, and I notice that his attacks are much more powerful than they had been. He is easily outfighting me. As he is backing me into a corner, I remember something. I remember those three threatening Ren. I won't be able to protect her if I'm this weak. Ikari jumps back. "It seems you've found something to fuel your power." I look at my blade, and can tell that it is more powerful. "I guess so. Thanks." I wake up.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I've decided that I won't be out hunting hollows tonight. I need to talk to Mukanshin. I lay down, and go to sleep. And wake up in the room. "Hey Muka-" she interrupts me. With a punch to the face. I stumble back, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" She turns her head away from me. "Hmph, idiot." The hell? "I'm sorry if I did something to make you mad Mukanshin, but I won't know how to fix it unless you tell me." She ignores me. I guess I'll have to do this that way. I walk up to her, and hug her, whispering in her ear. "I'm sorry for what I did, could you please forgive me?" Her reply is a punch to the gut, and her saying, "I guess I'll forgive you this time, but don't do it again, idiot." I back away from her. "Got it, but I have a question first." She motions for me to go on. "Were you mad at me for pinning you down like that, or was it something else?" Her face is tinged slightly red, and she won't look me in the eyes. "A bit of both, I guess." "So what was the second thing?" She looks at me angrily. "GOT IT! WON'T ASK AGAIN, Uh, goodnight! Or, good morning? B-b-bye!" I wake up.

I wander downstairs, and greet my mom. As I'm eating, I decide to ask for her help. "Hey mom, I have a question for you." She smiles at me, "Fire away," she says cheerfully. "So, there's this girl I know, and recently, she's been mad at me, but I have no idea what I've done." She smiles a bit more. "Well, tell me what happened when she got mad." I tell her about the day, doing my best to make it sound like Mukanshin had been standing next to me during the incidents. She laughs a little. "I think she likes you." Huh? "Whaddya mean?" She shakes her head. "What I mean, is I think this girl has a crush on you, and is trying to get you to notice her, and is maybe getting a little jealous when she sees you paying attention to those other girls." I feel embarrassment well up inside of me, and can tell it's Mukanshin. "She, likes me?"

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I jump up. "Nice job, baldy. You really got me there." He glares at me. "My name is Ikkaku, and I'm the third seat of squad 11, and you had best respect your superiors." I nod at him. "Yes sir." I turn to the gathered crowd. "Now, I'm all rested up, who wants to fight me?" Ikkaku punches my arm. "You weren't even out for 10 seconds, and you're completely rested?!" I smirk. "I'm used to taking really short breaks, and fighting for almost days on end." He laughs. "Go ahead, challenge whoever you'd like." "I think there's someone who wants to fight me already." Someone walks out from the crowd. "What a beautiful way to challenge someone." I grin at this guy. "I'm Yumichika Ayasegawa, the 5th seat of the 11th division." Great. "Awesome, so that must mean you're quite strong as well." He nods. I ready my stance.

We clash, and are evenly matched. You wouldn't think this guy was strong, because of his weird hairstyle and all that, but he is quite powerful. We break apart, and it seems like he's ready to use his Shikai. "Bloom, Fuji Kujaku," he says, and the sword turns into a sickle with four blades. It's quite an interesting weapon. We clash again, and I can tell he's more powerful. He's overpowering me. I think about Ren, and how weak I am. I can feel this anger welling up inside me. It isn't too much, as I know this person has no ill intent towards me, or her, but it's enough. We break away once more. "Obliterate, Ikari." I slash experimentally, and feel the extra power in the blade, as well as in the swing. I ready myself again, and grin.

We jump towards each-other, and he can tell that I'm more powerful now. We're evenly matched again. I know I'll need to squeeze more power out in order to win. I think of the trio, and my anger rises. But my power starts falling. I become more and more frustrated, and realize what my flaw was. I was angry for my own reasons. My anger was anything but selfless. I'm losing the battle, but I accept it. I was my own undoing. My opponent finally overpowers me, and we shake hands, both satisfied with this battle.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I walk to school, contemplating what I'd discovered earlier. My Zanpakuto has a crush on me? That's crazy. And then, it also feels a bit, weird. Because I can tell that my Zanpakuto's soul is born from my own. Which, when I think about it, makes it even weirder. I mean, it's almost the same as her being my sister, and my twin sister at that. Although, it does explain why everyone was laughing their asses off yesterday when I had told them what had happened. I guess I'm just oblivious to these sorts of things. And, of course, I really had best watch what I think, because she can most likely hear my thoughts, or at least, knows what I'm thinking. I laugh a little. I guess life's going to be a bit more complicated nowadays.

"Yo, Ichiro!" I wave. "Hey, Ichigo, everyone." "So, did you figure out what was going on with your Zanpakuto?" "Tch, you know exactly what was wrong." He laughs, "I've got an idea, but you'll have to confirm or deny it. So, what was wrong?" I shake my head and glare at him a little. "Well, I'm guessing that 1: She likes me, and 2: She was jealous." A mix of embarrassment and anger wells up inside of me. "Heh, from the reaction I just got from her, I hit it spot on." They laugh a little, and the feeling grows. But, I'm a bit light-headed, I stumble, and fall over. I'm out.

I slowly get to my feet. "So you force me out yesterday, and today you're forcing me in?" She walks up to me, and slaps me. Then she walks away and sits in a chair facing opposite me. I walk up, and sit next to her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you." She punches me in the leg, and mutters "Idiot." I look down at my feet. "Tell me something I don't know." For some reason, she's falling asleep. Do Zanpakuto even get tired? But she does anyway. I'm still wide awake though. She starts leaning over, and almost falls out of her chair before I catch her, and pull her to my side, her head resting on my arm. I smile at her, then bend down and whisper to her, "You've done a good job." I fall asleep.

I'm dreaming, even though I fell asleep in the room. It's my first dream, or at least, the first one that I can remember. A hole opens in the sky. It almost looks like a gaping mouth. People wearing what look like hollow masks are standing inside. But I feel as though it isn't a dream. I feel as if it's something that will happen, and soon. I need to get Jirou back here, as soon as possible. Because if he's not here, I feel like something terrible will happen. I wake up.

Mukanshin and I look at each-other. It's obvious that we saw the same thing. "Was that you?" She shakes her head. "Well, whatever happened, it won't be good. We need to get Jirou back here as soon as we can." She nods, "So what are you waiting for? Wake up and tell that Rukia girl that he needs to come back from the Soul Society." "Yes ma'am, I'll go do that right now." I salute her jokingly, and she punches me in the arm. I wake up.

I wake up in the Nurse's office, and get up. I start going to my class, and the Nurse asks if I'm feeling well. I just nod and walk out. I go to my classes though I'm only half-aware of what's going on. I'm dwelling on what I had dreamed. It had seemed so real, as well as being the first dream that I'd had. Class ended, and I walked up to the roof. I was the first one to get there. Soon after I arrive, Ichigo, Chad, Uryu and the others come up. We talk for awhile, but then I turn to Rukia. "Could you bring Jirou back from the Soul Society soon? It's an important matter." She looks at me oddly. "The thing is, the longer he is there, the more and more tired I become. I think the same thing might be happening to him. Also, I don't want to become catatonic." She nods. "I guess it's to be expected, after all, you inhabited the same body for so long. I'll see what I can do."

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

This squad is just too much fun. I can fight as much as I want, and if I don't want to, I can just say no by calmly punching someone in the face. I had never thought that being in a group would be this entertaining. Of course, I never had had interactions with people other than Ichirou and Ikari until a couple of days ago. But, I guess that's life. Completely unpredictable. And I wouldn't have it any other way...

The door to the barracks is suddenly kicked in, and someone is charging at me, sword drawn. It's the soul reaper whose life I had saved. He attacks me, obviously trying to kill me. I dodge his attacks, and finally smack his Zanpakuto out of his hands. "So, would you mind telling me what in Hell you think you're doing?" "I'm getting revenge, you bastard." That's confusing. "And what did I do to make you thirst for revenge?" He scoffs. "I fought that man because I knew it was suicide. I knew he would beat me, and would kill me. I'm through with the Soul Society. I wanted to be re-born. But you rui-" He's cut off mid sentence by my blade piercing his heart. "If you do not wish to live, then die." He falls off of my blade.

I walk out of the barracks, a stunned silence filling it. Tch, I guess that I'm more like Ichirou than I thought. I wander Soul Society for a while, and promptly realize that I am completely lost. I jump onto a building to get my bearings. And find that I'm literally around the corner from the barracks. I walk to the barracks, and find a place to sleep. Killing that man took a toll on me. That's a good thing though…

I'm woken up to the sight of a familiar girl. "Jirou, get up, you're going back to the human world for a couple of days." I rub the sleep from my eyes. "Ichirou is feeling side-effects from you being here. We need you to return for a while so they can recede." I nod my head and struggle to my feet, using my Zanpakuto as a support. We walk through Soul Society, and finally reach the Senkaimon. It's time to go home.

So, how did you like it? Or hate it? Or read it? Awesome. I look forward to any reviews, and thank you for them in advance. Also, I love how different the intro and outro are coming from two completely different mindsets, as I write them at different times. Also, it helps me not to spoil anything. Well, gotta go. Asteelyman13's the name, and, well, a lot of different things are the game, or games, I dunno. SEE YA NEXT CHAPTER!


	6. Pranks & Revelation

Heya there! This is the writer Asteelyman13 giving you yet another chapter. I hope you like it, and thank you all for reading. It's awesome to have a story that people read, especially when I have ideas for it. Well, I don't own Bleach, but I'm telling you this: Ichirou and Jirou are 100% my own creations. Have fun reading.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

As soon as I return to the human world, I feel as though a weight has lifted off of my shoulders. It isn't much, but it feels good. I head to Urahara's shop, as that was where I left my gigai. I walk into the room, and notice there is someone sitting next to my gigai. It's Ren. Ooh, I've got an idea. She'll kill me for it, but it'll be hilarious. I go into my gigai, matching breathing rhythm with it. Then I stop breathing and flash open my eyes. She looks at me, and I look back with what I hope is terror. I mouth "Help me" before I half-close my eyes. She looks around frantically, then does something I didn't expect. I expected her to think I was choking on something and do the Heimlich maneuver or something, but she goes straight to the next step. She straddles me, and starts doing chest compressions. I'm surprised, but want to see if she'll go past it, so I don't breath. Well, I only do when she's not checking to see if I am, and then only a tiny bit. She leans forward, and stops, embarrassment on her face. She sits back up, and smacks my chest again. I wasn't expecting it this time, so she forces a breath out of me. I start breathing, and look at her. Her face is one of pure relief. I'm filled with guilt.

I sit up and hug her. "I'm sorry. I've been gone, and now I do this." She hugs me back. "It's not your fault you stopped breathing." I wince. "About that, I-" got punched in the gut. She pushes me down. "YOU IDIOT! SO YOU STOPPED BREATHING ON PURPOSE?!" She is pissed. She punches me again, and then pulls me up. And hugs me? "You idiot," she whispers, "Don't you know how scared I was?" I hug her back. "I'm sorry. I knew you wouldn't like it, but I did it anyway. Is there anything I can do to get you to forgive me?" She releases me, and looks down. "There is one thing you can do." I motion for her to go on. "C-close your e-eyes." I do. A moment later, I feel something soft on my lips. Is she ki-oomph! SHE PUNCHED ME IN THE GUT AGAIN! I open my eyes, and see her laughing. I smile. She's amazing.

Urahara walks into the room. "Wasn't that an interesting re-union," he says while covering his mouth with a fan. I smirk. "Hey Urahara. Good to see you. How's Ichirou doing?" His face turns dark. "There's something you should know. Come with me. I look at Ren, and smile, as to say, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon." She smiles back weakly, and I follow Urahara to another room. We walk in, and see Ichirou asleep. "Wait, why's he asleep?" My reply comes in the form of a sharp pain to the back of the head. And then the sensation of falling forward.

I get up and turn around, "DAMMIT URA-" Oh. I'm in the room. Ichirou and Mukanshin are sitting on a couch in front of me. Wait, since when did we have a couch. They're laughing lightly. Wait, Ichirou is _smiling_. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" Ikari walks up. "They've been like this ever since I got back. As soon as you got back to the human world, this room and yours became one. I'm not sure why I was here this whole time though, but they've been sitting like that the whole time." I look at them again, and notice something I didn't see earlier. They're holding hands. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHILE I WAS GONE?!"

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Mukanshin and I laugh at Jirou's frustration. "What's wrong, Jirou? Jealous?" He smirks. "No. I mean, I doubt you two have even kissed." I laugh, "You haven't kissed anyone either!" His smirk grows more prominent. "Up until a minute ago, that was true." I'm shocked. "You kissed someone?" He laughs. "Yep. Ren." Well isn't that surprising. "Hey, Ichirou." I look to Mukanshin. "What is it?" "We can't get behind, can we?" Huh? "What do you-" Oh. That's what she means. She's kissing me. We break apart after a moment, and I turn to Jirou. "I guess we're even now." He just nods. Ikari speaks up, "So, what is it you wanted to talk to us about?" "Oh yeah, I'd totally forgotten about that. Have a seat." I mention to one of our new chairs. They're those spinny ones.

Ikari and Jirou sit down on their respective chairs. "Something bad is going to happen." Jirou looks at me confused. "I'm not sure what, but something terrible is going to happen soon. It has something to do with the pathway to Hueco Mundo, the hollow's world." Jirou grins. "Well this may just be interesting." Tch. Idiot, doesn't he realize how bad this could get? "Whatever. But from now on, we are going to be training constantly. Got it?" He nods and smiles. I draw my blade, and rush Ikari. He jumps back, and I cut the chair in half. He draws his sword. Sure, Mukanshin is a good fight, but I need more experience than fighting just one person. "Enervate Mukanshin." "Obliterate, Ikari." It's time to fight.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I draw my blade and block the attack Mukanshin attempted to deliver. It was the same as Ichirou's, even at the same time. I guess I just anticipated this. She jumps back. "Well Mukanshin, your test is to get me to leave this chair. Have fun." She glares at me, and attacks. I block it. She tries from one side, and I simply turn and block it. Who knew these spinny chairs would be such an entertaining handicap while fighting? We continue like this for a couple of minutes, and she then swipes at my legs. I lift them up, and realize that they were not the target. She cuts the seat of the chair from the base. I jump out. Nice job. We fight normally now, and I notice that Ichirou and Ikari have released their swords. I motion to them. "Shall we do the same?"

"Enervate, Mukanshin!" "Obliterate, Ikari!" We battle for a couple of minutes neither of us winning nor losing. Then we cross our blades, and Mukanshin whispers something to me. "That Ren is ugly." My mind shuts me out. The lights turn red. My power is incredible. I have a vague notion that Ikari and Ichirou have stopped fighting to watch. I fight Mukanshin with all my strength. I don't kill her, but I knock her out. I turn around, and am stabbed by Ichirou. My strength drains as blood comes out. He cuts me a couple more time, and I'm losing power at a greater rate. The lights aren't changing, but my power is leaving me quickly.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Jirou falls over unconscious. He won't die. It's impossible here. In fact, he's returning to the real world this moment. I turn back to Ikari. "Shall we continue?" He nods, and we clash. For the next couple of minutes, we were evenly matched, only giving each-other minor cuts. And to the ignorant observer, It would seem as though the match would never end. But as he slowly bled, his strength slowly left him. A minute later, the battle is overwhelmingly one-sided. I knock him unconscious, and walk to Mukanshin's body. I put her head on my lap, and wait for her to wake up.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I wake up with a searing headache. I bolt upright, yelling "PEANUT BUTTER! JELLY! BASEBALL BAT! MY HEAD!" I hear light laughter next to me. I turn to Ren, smiling. Seeing her makes me forget about my pain. I motion for her to come closer, and she does. I take her by surprise, kissing her lightly. And I get punched in the stomach again. "I love you," I whisper. "I don't love you though." I pull back shocked. She laughs loudly, "I'm joking. That's my revenge for earlier. I love you too." Just then I notice Urahara at the door, holding a video camera. I'm going to kill him. I start to get up, and he runs, but Ren stops me. We look at each-other, smiling. Then Ichirou decides to wake up and ruin the moment.

"We're going home, come on." I hang my head, "Yes sir." I look to Ren with an apologetic smile, and leave the shop. "So why do we have to go home?" "We have to tell our mother that she has another child sometime. Now seemed like the right time." Makes sense. We walk up to our house, and Ichirou unlocks the door. "I'm home!" he calls as we walk in. "How was your day Ichi-" she stops when she sees me. "Jirou." "Yeah, that's his, wait, how did you know that?" She runs up to me and hugs me. It's a little awkward, but I manage to say, "Hi mom, nice to meet you." "Wait, mom, how did you know who he was?" She smiles. "That would be the question, wouldn't it?"

We're sitting at the table. Our mom has just made something for us to eat, and is now sitting with us. "Your father was a scientist. Nobody knew where he was from, or who he was. He simply showed up one day. I fell in love with him, but I didn't know that he would do what he did." I look at her questioningly. "What did he do?" She sighs. "You two are twins. When you were first born, he took Ichirou with him and left. A couple of years later, he returned alone. He did something to Jirou. He took Ichirou's soul, or something, and shoved it inside Jirou's body. He even knew that he was Ichirou. But somehow, he had Jirou's memory." Wait, so that first day in the room, it wasn't me coming into existence, it was my father shoving me Ichirou's soul into my body, and robbing me of my free will.

"Your father was a lot like you, Ichirou. He didn't have any emotions it seemed like. He only cared for his experiments. I just wish that I had found that out earlier…" She starts crying. "What was our father's name?" Ichirou asks her. "Mayuri Kurotsuchi." I walk up to our mother and take her hand, "Mom, I'm going to find him, and make him pay for what he's done. I promise." This just makes her even more sad.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Jirou is sleeping in the guest bedroom. I guess we'd better meet up there now. I fall asleep, and wake up in my inner mind. Jirou is already waiting for me. "So, how do you think we should go about finding our father?" "Well, what about that Ichigo guy we met at Urahara's shop. You know, the one you hid from." "That's a good idea. Also, you come to school with me tomorrow. I'll just tell the administration office that you're my brother, and have been sick for quite a while." He shakes his head. "I'll be good waiting at home." I get an idea, "Well, you see, I'm pretty sure Ren will be there, as she's recovered now." His face changes to a smile for a moment, but returns to a blank one. "I'll think about it." He's fallen for it. "So how about we practice until morning?" He grins, "Sounds good to me."

When I wake up in the morning and go downstairs, Jirou is already up and eating. Saying Ren would be there really was the right move. As I sit down, my mom puts a plate in front of me, and smiles at us as we eat. We grab our bags, and start walking. "Oh yeah, Jirou, where'd you get your school uniform from one? I mean, you've never been before, so how do you have one?" He laughs. "This is one of yours, obviously!" That, makes sense. We walk up to the gates, and see Uryu. I call out a greeting to him. He almost does, but then get's confused. Ichigo walks up and greets us both.

I tell my friends the circumstances, and that we have something to ask them at lunch, and set off for the administrative office. Jirou and I explain our, "circumstances" and continue on to school. We go through our classes, and as Jirou is introduced in them, I notice he always flashes a smile in the direction of a certain girl, who returns it. We finish our classes, and I lead him and Ren to the rooftop. As we're going up, Jirou starts to explain our true circumstances to her, but she waves it off, saying that Urahara had already done so.

"So Ichirou, what was this question you had for us?" Ichigo asks. "Have you ever heard of someone called Mayuri Kurotsuchi?" Everyone shakes their heads, with the exception of Uryu. He has a hard look on his face. Jirou speaks up, "So, by your response Glasses, you know him." "It's not Glasses, it's Ishida, Uryu Ishida." Jirou laughs. "Whatever Glasses. So, do you know him." Uryu is getting just a little irritated. "Yes, I do. Why do you want to know." Jirou starts "Oh, just heard about him and won-" "He's our father," I interrupt. Uryu's eyes go wide.

Everyone is interested in what Uryu has to say about this Mayuri Kurotsuchi. "He's the captain of Squad 12. Orihime and I encountered him, after he tried to kill us by blowing up his own squad members." Orihime seems to remember this Mayuri now, and is making a sour face. "He's a heartless man, who was willing to go to any length to injure me, even injuring his own Lieutenant. He conducts torturous experiments just to gain any morsel of knowledge. I only just defeated him." Jirou laughs. "Sounds like an interesting guy!"

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

So that's our father. A ruthless killer, with a mind only for his experiments. I feel so sorry for my mother, as well as Ichirou. Who knows what Kurotsuchi did to him in the six years that my brother was living with him. Those six years are probably why Ichirou has no capacity for emotions. It's quite sad. Ichirou speaks up. "I'll have to join squad 12 and meet him when I can." "Why not go now, I can open the Senkaimon any time you need it." Ichirou shakes his head. "I feel like there's something I still need to do in this world. I can leave then."

Ichirou and I go throughout the rest of the day, somewhat bored. The only saving grace of going to school, was that Ren was there. And I'm glad I came today. Ren and I had agreed to meet up at the front gate after school. But she never showed up. I walked around for a bit looking for her, when I heard muffled screaming. I charge in the direction of the scream. Then I hear laughter. The laughter of three different people. I'm want to kill them.

I see them. They've torn off her shirt, and are now laughing and gawking at her as she cowers in a corner. One of the bastards is even taking a video of it. I charge. I knock the one with the phone, take it, and stop the video. I put myself between Ren and the trio. "I'm sorry you have to see this." I finally lose the last scrap of sanity that I had left. I'm a blur of motion, and I think I hear a bone breaking. They run away.

I watch them run, and I turn to Ren. She's crying. I hug her. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you." She hugs me back. When we release, I take off my shirt and hold it out. We're both quite embarrassed. She puts it on, and I walk her home. I'm going to have to talk to the principal of the school. That video will be useful. I pull up the video and watch it. It's terrible. Those bastards will be lucky if it was only a broken arm, and not a neck.

Another day, another chapter. I made sure to make this one longer because I'm going on a week-long hiatus. So, I'll try to write as much as I can before then, but I at least have to give you this chapter. So, hope you've had fun reading. Please review, and look forward to the next chapter. As always, I'm Asteelyman13, and I am very, very, tired. G'NIGHT!


	7. Shit Goes Down

Greetings earthlings! I don't even know what I'm doing right now, and frankly, am quite bored, so I decided, "Writing" and I went with it. So the start of this chapter may or may not be complete and utter trash, but I look forward to writing it all the same. Without further adieu, I don't own Bleach, have a story.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

Jirou disappeared shortly after school had ended. I think he said something about seeing Ren. But something's been bothering me today. It feels like a hollow has been following me all day. Ichigo's been on edge, as well as Rukia, so I know it's not just my mind playing tricks on me. Suddenly, I can tell exactly where it is. I run towards it, punching myself out of my body.

I come upon the hollow, which is attacking some kids from our school. It seems to have been playing with them, only injuring them and not killing them. I run up to the hollow, and start battling it. It's much more difficult than usual, but I don't have to use my Shikai to kill it. But, It's odd. I feel like I didn't kill a hollow at all. It feels like it's still there, like it will come back to haunt me. Then again, that's impossible.

I return to my body and enter it. I start walking home, but decide that I should stop by Urahara's shop first. It's not far from where I am anyway. As I'm walking there, somebody approaches me. It's a guy about my age with a really creepy grin. Like, almost pedophile creepy. He had blond hair as well. "Hey, do you know Ichigo Kurosaki?" "Yeah, why?" "I was wondering if you knew where he went to school." That's, odd. "You know, you're starting to sound like a stalker." "A stalker would already know that." True. "Karakura High School. But, don't walk up to him with that type of grin on your face. He'll probably punch you the second you start talking."

The guy starts walking away, but turns. "Also, are you an actual Shinigami, or is it more like Ichigo's situation?" I glare at him. "How did you know that?" "Well it's really easy to tell when you start talking to someone, without a gigai, and them responding." That makes sense. "Well then, I'm not really like Ichigo. I can tell that there's something more to him than just his Soul Reaper powers. And anyway, I doubt that Ichigo had a second soul shoved inside of him for 13 years." He looks shocked at this. "Wait, do you have a Hollow living inside of you as well?" I laugh. "If that's what's making him so powerful, I'm terrified to know what the cost of it is. But no, that's not what it is. My father was a scientist, and he conducted an experiment to see what would happen if you put two souls into a human body. My brother was trapped in some kind of pocket universe for that time, but I only visited it while I was asleep. He almost went insane, and I was drained of all emotion." "Well then, maybe you and your brother might want to join us, the Visored. We have been wronged by the soul society as I suspect you have. And maybe we can learn something from each-other." "Oh I'll tell you that it definitely was the Soul Society who wronged us. I mean, my father is the captain of squad 12, and the head of R&D. But I don't resent the Soul Society. I'm actually going to try and see my father, and report the results of his experiment." This man looks at me, stunned. "Why?" "I am my father's son."

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

"Hello sir, I am here to report a situation that has arisen on these school grounds that needs immediate attention." The principal looks at me confused after I walk into his office without warning. "One student was almost raped on school grounds, and others have suffered serious injuries." The principal is shocked to hear this. "W-what happened? How do you know this?" "Well sir, I know the second part for sure because I'm the one who caused the serious injuries." His eyes narrow at me. "And do you have a reason for doing this, Mr…" "Hayato. Jirou Hayato. And in response to your question, yes, and I believe you'll excuse my violent outburst because of it."

The principal is glaring at me by this point. "And what reason would call for seriously injuring students?" "Rape. Or rather, attempted rape." He laughs. "Are you saying you injured them because they tried to rape you?! Ridiculous!" It's my turn to glare at him. "Not me sir, but my girlfriend. I heard her scream and ran to her. When I arrived I found these students about to rape her." "Do you have any evidence of this attempted rape? Evidence of your violence will be found easily, but so far there is no evidence of this so called rape." I pull out the phone of one of the bullies and pull up the video. I place the phone in front of him.

The principal's face changes from disbelief to rage, and finally to outright horror. I hear a crack from the video and he winces. After the video is over, he turns the phone off and sets it on his table. "Very well Mr. Hayato. I will inform authorities of this tragic event immediately." I nod and walk out of the office, running to the nearest broom closet. Knock myself out of my body and take my phone with me. I re-enter his office and start recording from the corner.

"This is terrible. My own son, doing such a thing? And saying that she couldn't do anything to him because he was my son? I've told him to stop doing this shit, but he just keeps doing it! I can't let this video get out. I'll delete this video and sue that boy for injuring my son. It'll look suspicious otherwise." He pulls up the phone and deletes the video. Good think I sent that original video to Ichirou and myself as well. I set my phone in the corner, and go back to my body.

I walk back into the principal's office. "Sorry sir, I forgot my phone. Also, I should have ended the video I took. I wonder what new evidence came up while I was gone." I pick up my phone as his face changes to a look of complete horror. He charges me, his face full of rage. I let him hit me, and then knock him out with one hit. I end the video, and send it to Ichirou's phone. Time to go to the police. I wonder what they'll think of this.

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I walk into the shop. "Sup Urahara." "Hey Ichirou, how's it goin'?" "I'm good. Just talked to this creepy guy." "I see. You want to know who he is?" I shake my head. "No, it's something else." "And that something else is?" "I killed a hollow earlier. But it doesn't feel like I truly killed it. It feels like it's still here." Urahara scratches his head. "I've never heard of anything like that before." As he's talking, I see an odd shadow form behind him. I already know what it is. Move to hit myself out of my body, but Urahara beats me to the punch. He draws his sword from his cane - wait, what?! - and kills the hollow. But we can both tell that it's not really gone. But that's not what I care about.

"Urahara, I have a request." "Shoot kid." "I need to get to Soul Society." He grins. "I can do that for you." "What's the catch?" "Nothing at all this time. you paid me well for the gigai, so I'll do this for free." "Excellent. Let's go." He opens a senkaimon, and I start going through it. "Also, Ichirou, you'd best run. Just in case." What does he mean by that? I shake my head and start running. The door closes behind me. I run for a little while, then hear something behind me. I look back, and see what looks like a train closing in on me. Shit.

I'm running faster than hell to get away from this thing. Luckily I don't get tired as quickly in Soul Reaper form. I glance behind me, and see that the train-thingy is closer. I run faster than I was, now concentrating my Spirit energy to the task of running. In a flash I've run three times what I could have in 10 seconds. I concentrate some more, and am flying along this tunnel. I'm out in no time. I come out of the end of the Senkaimon, and two Soul Reapers that were guarding it draw their swords. I should have know this would happen.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" one of the guards asks. "My name is Ichirou Hayato. I wish for an audience with the captain of squad 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi." One of them scoffs, "As if a captain would meet with a lowly ryoka." I hold out my hands. "Take me into custody then. Also, just to let you know, I'm not just a ryoka." "Tch, then what are you, royalty?" "The fruits of one of his experiments. He may or may not remember." They laugh. "Whatever. Let's go," one of them says, dragging me off.

(Squad 12 barracks)

Mayuri Kurotsuchi is sitting in a chair looking at a video feed. A squad member enters the room. "Captain Kurotsuchi, a Ryoka has entered Soul Society and has been captured!" Mayuri looks irritated. "And what does this have to do with me?" "The Ryoka asked for you by name, and said that they were the product of one of your experiments." Mayuri looks slightly interested. "I _can_ always use another test subject. Very well, I will meet with this Ryoka. But if it turns out to be a waste of my time, you will become my new test subject, understood?" The shinigami goes pale. "Y-yes sir." "Oh, and don't even think about trying to run away. We track all of our squad members 24-7." The shinigami's face is completely white now. "Y-yes sir. I-I understand, sir."

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I'm sitting in a cell in one of the squad's barracks. It's much different from a cell in the human world. For one thing it's much larger, and there aren't any other cells around. I wait there meditating for a while until someone finally opens the door. I keep my eyes closed and listen to them approach my cell. They stop in front of it. "Well then, who might you be?" I open my eyes and look at the speaker. His face looks like some kind of mask. "Captain Kurotsuchi. You have my thanks for coming here." "Yes whatever, now then, who exactly are you." I stand up and walk to the bars of my cell. "I am the result of an experiment you began 17 years ago." He looks at my face closely. "I must confess, I have no idea what experiment you are referring to."

I smile. "Then allow me to refresh your memory, but first I would like to make sure that no one is listening in." "Of course. Nemu, wait outside and make sure nobody comes near." A girl I hadn't noticed earlier leaves. "Very well. My name is Ichirou Hayato. I have a brother, Jirou, who has recently joined squad 11. He and I were raised with quite odd circumstances. We spent the first four lives apart. My father and I returned to him and my mother, and my soul was shoved into his body. His was sent into a sort of pocket universe, and almost became an alternate personality. My father then left" He looks slightly interested.

"Now, mine and Jirou's souls have been separated. We can go wherever we want, but I have noticed that my spiritual pressure seems more powerful the closer I am to him. As it is now, with him in the human world and me here, I can tell that I am considerably less powerful." "Well then, you have piqued my interest in you and your brother. Now what is the part that you're not telling me? I can tell when somebody is hiding something."

This is what I've been waiting for. "Well sir, the thing I've yet to tell you is the identity of my father. It is probably one of the most important details of the experiment." "Well then, go on and tell me." I draw in a breath. "You, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, are my father." He laughs. "I apologize, but that is impossible, I have killed off all of my descendants." He glares at me, "And if you make that claim again, you will suffer the same fate." Something in his tone is telling me that something else is going on here. I guess I'll go along with it.

"Of course. I suppose I'm just having delusions of grandeur. How could we possibly be related, after all, we don't look anything alike." "Yes. That's obviously it. Now, even though you have given me a false claim, I am willing to allow you to join squad 12 upon the condition that I can perform experiments upon you." I nod, accepting his offer. He opens my cell. "Follow me then. We shall begin immediately."

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I walk into the police station, an envelope in my hand. It contains my phone -which is completely blank excepting those two videos- and a written note explaining what happened. I drop it off, and start walking home. As I'm going home, I come upon a guy who's smiling kind of creepily. As we pass each-other, he stops. "I didn't expect to see you again." Did I miss something. "I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before in my life." He seems confused. "But I just talked to you a couple of minutes ago, outside of Urahara's shop." Oh. That makes sense. "I think I understand what's going on here. You probably ran into my brother, Ichirou." And the confusion is gone. "Then I have to ask, what's your opinion on what your father did to you? Ichirou already told me his, but I have a feeling yours will be different." I laugh. "The thing is, Ichirou can't possibly be mad at our father. He doesn't have the capacity for it. He's completely apathetic. Me, I'm irritated, but in the end I think it made me stronger than I could have been otherwise." He nods. "Now if you don't mind, what's your name? I'm Jirou." "Shinji." "Nice to meet you. Goodbye."

As I walk away from him I call back "Also, why are you walking around in spirit-form? Want some Soul Reaper to notice you or something?" I grin as I hear him stop in his tracks. I'm so glad I figured out how to tell whether someone was an actual person or just their soul. I continue walking home, wondering what I should do that night.

(later)

As I near my house, I freeze. Something's not right. I put on my glove and smack myself out of my body. I draw my Zanpakuto and scan the area. I can't see anything, but I know that something is there. I close my eyes. I can tell that something is there, waiting in the shadows to attack. THERE! I spring forward and run up my house. On my roof is a hollow. I get ready to strike, but it splits in half. Then each half does that. What's going on here? I can only feel the bloodlust from one of them though. The others must be illusions. An illusion attacks me, and I barely dodge it on reflex. But it scratches me.

Something's off about this. These copies aren't real, but they can injure me. It's like trying to kill a spider. No matter how many limbs you cut off, it won't die until you crush the head. I attack left and right, killing the copies as they come. I focus in on the bloodlust. It's near the middle of the crowd of hollows. I spin, slashing as many as I can, and jump high. I spot the lead hollow, and somehow push off of the air, launching myself towards it. I stab the hollow in the center of its mask. It and its copies disintegrate. What an odd hollow.

I think about what I did earlier. I jump up, and concentrate. I land a couple of feet above my roof. I act as though I'm climbing stairs, and somehow it seems as though I am. Somehow, I'm able to walk on air as though it were a solid floor. I try something. And if I want to, I can fall like I normally would. This is so cool! I wonder what else I can do while I'm a Soul Reaper…

Hey guys, I guess that I'm back. Sorry that it took WAY too long to get this chapter out. School is irritating. But no you for the reviews, favorites, and follows. Thank you, my readers. You people are the reason I write. I hope your lives are all that you expect of them. This is, Asteelyman13, signing off.


	8. Something different, Something wrong

I'm back with another chapter today! Thanks everybody for the reviews! I love you guys who read my stories, whether you review or not. And thank you all for making this my most popular story by far, even if I forget to update sometimes (almost always.) I don't own Bleach, and neither do I plan to. Story, GO!

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I walk above the streets of my hometown. I sense something in the distance. A moment later, my Denreishinki rings. A hollow has been detected. I'm already running in the direction of it. I can tell where it is. I stop when I see it. It's that guy from before, and Ichigo. The guy is holding a hollow mask. Suddenly, I hear something from within me. "We should kill him, Jirou." Why is Ikari telling me this? I suppress his desire to kill, and watch the rest of the proceedings. After that guy leaves, I walk up to Ichigo. "What was that all about?"

"That guy, Shinji. Apparently, he's like me." I look at him questioningly. "He has both Soul Reaper and Hollow powers." That explains the mask. "So what did he want with you?" "He wanted me to join his group. The Vizards, I think he called them." I nod. "And there's more. He says he can help me control my inner hollow." "Aren't you already doing that?" He shakes his head. "He's gaining more control each day. Soon, he might take control completely." I nod again. "Then as I see it, you have three choices." "And what are they?" "First, you let your inner hollow take control." "I won't let that happen." "Second, you go to these 'Vizards' and have them show you how to keep him in control." "I'm not sure I want to do that either." "Which is the reason for option three."

"So, what is option three." I look at him, deadly serious. "You can die." He looks at me shocked. "I can, die?" I nod. "If you don't want your inner hollow to assume control, and don't want to go to the Vizards for help, then the only thing you can do to prevent both, is to die." He looks shocked to hear this. "I can't help you with this one. If you decide that the third option is the best, you'll either have to kill yourself, or have Ichirou do it for you. Nobody else would be willing to kill you." He smirks. "Thanks, so great to know that your brother is that supporting." The look I give him is dead-pan. "What did you expect? He went to school even though his two best friends had died. He would probably thank you for the opportunity to do so. In any case, it's your decision, Ichigo. Now go sleep. You've got a big decision to make." "And what about you?" "I'll watch for hollows."

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

"There, I've finished." Kurotsuchi stands back. "So these things will report everything and anything that happens to and around me back to Soul Society?" He nods, "Yes. You won't be of use as a traditional test subject, but if I can gather data from your fights and when you are near your brother, I may be able to gain some useful information that way." I nod. "Very well then. Do I have permission to return to the human world?" "Yes, now go. I have other matters to attend to." As soon as he says that, he's acting as I was never even there.

I walk back to the Senkaimon. Suddenly, I remember something. My body goes on autopilot, and I'm in my mind. And I'm slapped. Mukanshin is glaring at me. "You said you would be back earlier." I stagger backwards. "Sorry! I really didn't mean it!" She's still mad. I slowly walk up to her, and her eyes are daggers. I have to do something quick, or else this is all going to go to hell. I cast my eyes at my feet. "I'm sorry love." I glance up quickly. She's blushing furiously.

That's a good sign. I just have to figure out how to make this up to her before all hell breaks loose. I walk up and hug her. If I tried to kiss her, it'd just make it worse. "I'll make it up to you, somehow," I whisper to her. I can feel the heat from her face. She's thoroughly embarrassed. Then she flinches for some reason. "What happened?" As soon as I ask, i walk into a wall.

My hands fly up to my face. That really hurt. I get the feeling that Mukanshin is laughing at me. I guess that's one way for me to get her to forgive me, even if it were accidental. I tell her that I'll talk to her later, when I'm not walking. She giggles a little, saying that she looks forward to it. It's really quite odd that I can only feel things when Mukanshin is involved. Whatever the reason, I don't really need emotions. Do I?

(later, in the human world)

It feels nice to be back. Guess It'd be good for me to go to Urahara's and grab my gigai though. I can feel that Jirou is patrolling right now, looking for hollows. Didn't Ichigo normally do that though? Whatever, it doesn't really matter who does it, so long as somebody does. I start walking to Urahara's shop. A figure darts out of the shadows in front of me. It's a normal person. He's bald. Then he sees me, somehow. "Jirou, you're here as well?"

I draw my sword, "I don't know how you know Jirou, but you should probably get out of my way." He looks confused. Then he pops some sort of candy into his mouth, and separates into two. He must be a soul reaper. He draws his sword. I get into a ready stance, and his brows furrow. Then he attacks. I block his overhand cut, and counter with a slash to his right side. He blocks it as it comes, but I'm already attacking. I attack downwards, an overhand cut, but allow my sword to slide off his blade. I strike at his side, and he jumps back. I barely graze him.

I step back. "Enervate, Mukanshin." My blade releases, and he is much more confused now than he was. I lunge, and my blade is blocked by Jirou's. He sweeps a kick under my legs, and I'm on the ground. He turns back, and looks at the bald guy. "Seriously Ikkaku, you thought this guy was me?" He's shaking his head in mock disappointment. "And he almost got you with that attack. You really need to be more careful." Then Jirou draws his Zanpakuto.

(Jirou's P.O.V.)

I don't know why Ikkaku is here, but the reason why he was fighting Ichirou is obvious. He thought that Ichirou was me, and was seeing if I'd gotten any more powerful. I draw my zanpakuto, and ready myself. I slash at him, overhand cuts, side cuts, forehand and backhand. I'm not letting him counter me. My strikes are a whirlwind. I feel much more powerful than I did in Soul Society. Is it because Ichirou is here? Either way, I'm pushing him back. Then we separate.

"Extend, Hozukimaru." That's what I was waiting for. Now I can see if I'm really stronger now. His blade becomes the sansetsukon. I don't wait for him to be ready this time though. I dart in and attack immediately. My attacks are like a whirlwind, he doesn't know where to defend. I didn't have this kind of strength in Soul Society. I suppose that being in the same world as Ichirou makes me more powerful. I surprise him with a kick, and that ends the match.

"Nice job Ikkaku, I didn't hit you once." He laughs, "But I wasn't even able to get one attack in!" "That was the point, if I'd let you attack even once, you'd have gained the upper hand." "Well I guess it was a good fight and all, but could you people tell me what's going on here?" We look at Ichirou and laugh. "Just a little ceremony that we squad 11 members go through." He shakes his head. "Count me out of it. I'd rather not be hacked to pieces by one of you." We laugh again, and then I see it. There are some shadowy figures moving towards my house. "Ichirou, let's go. I'll talk later Ikkaku."

I drag Ichirou to our house, running on the air above the streets. I can clearly see a group of people moving in the same direction. Whatever they want, I'm sure as hell not letting them get there first. Ichirou wrenches himself from me. "You go on ahead, let me grab something from Urahara's shop!" He's gone. I keep running home. I'm just glad that the mob can't see me. Then I realize it. I left my body outside. I run even faster, and a minute later, I get into it, then run inside. I see the mob appear in front of my house. It looks like they're dragging something.

My god. I am going to kill them. Each and every one of them. These bastards, I want to murder them all. They're going to pay in blood…

(Ichirou's P.O.V.)

I raced to Urahara's shop, grabbed my gigai, and started back. That's when I heard the screaming. I ran even faster, pushing my limits. When I arrived, there were maybe a half dozen people dead, and my brother in a furious rage. I wondered what could make him like this. Then I saw it. Our mother was lying off to the side. It was a terrible sight. Her eyes poked out, cuts all over her body. I go down to Jirou. I protect his blind-spots. A couple of minutes later, the survivors are running in fear.

I turn to Jirou. Something's wrong with his eyes. They look, wrong. It's almost like the color is inverted. The whites of his eyes are now black. His normally green irises are red*. A minute later, the illusion is gone. Our mother's body isn't there anymore, nor are the dead bodies of the members of the mob. Something is wrong here. Jirou's eyes are still off. Making an executive decision, I knock him out. Carrying his body, I go and pick up my gigai, then walk inside. I set Jirou in his bed, then get in my gigai and go to sleep.

(The Room, Unknown P.O.V.)

Both of them are here now. One appeared a little while ago, and now the other is here as well. "Jirou, what happened back there?" That was the newcomer. The one named Jirou replies, "I, I don't know. I saw the mob, and I saw Ren lying there, dead." So, that is who he saw. "That's odd. I saw our mother." The two look at each-other, then realize something crucial. "Where are our Zanpakuto?"

I decide that now is the time to reveal myself. I step out from the shadows. The two see me, and get into a fighting stance. I hold up my hands. "Relax, relax. Don't worry you two, I'm on your side." The newer one glares at me. "I'll assume that illusion earlier was you doing." "Yes, it was." "And what did you aim to accomplish with it?" "Well, that was simple. I was wondering how you two would fight together in a fit of rage. You did very well, protecting Jirou while he was in his berserker-like state. Very calm for the circumstances." He looks at me oddly.

"Well, I for one don't really care who you are or what you want." That was Jirou. The newer one, Ichirou, that was his name, shakes his head, "Actually, it would be better if we did know what your name was." I grin, "I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi, at your service." He laughs, "Well isn't that a lie. I met him just the other day." Damn, he got me. "I suppose that our mother believing that he was our father was your doing as well." I grin. He catches on quick. "Isn't that right, father?"

He's a smart one. "Yes, that is right." Jirou on the other hand was incredibly confused. "So who are you then?!" I laugh. "You can call me The Architect." Ichirou scoffs. "No, that'd be too cool of a name for you." Damn, took me all week to come up with that one. "The Father?" He shakes his head again. "You haven't been much of a father." True, I haven't. "The Rogue?" He looks to Jirou, who makes a suggestion, "The Rogue Father." It's not cool, but it's true. Then Ichirou ruins it. "We can call him Tarf." I wince. That's not cool.

"So, Tarf, how exactly did you infiltrate our room?" I laugh, "Your room? I designed this place, I made it so that your souls could slowly meld together. I didn't realize that it could actually end up making you so much more different than if I hadn't intervened." Ichirou looks at me, confused. "The room ended up making Ichirou violent and an excellent fighter, whereas you became a more philosophical person," I explain. "And that put a rift between our personalities."

Suddenly the room rumbles. "I see, it's forcing me out already." They look somewhat surprised at this. "Hey, I said I made it, I never said that I could easily exist here." I draw my sword. "We'll meet again." I slash the air, and step through the opening it created. It then closes behind me. I grin. "Everything's going according to plan."

I am so sorry for that long time that it took to update. I got a little distracted by school and other things. Anyway, I will do my best to write and update much more often than I have recently. I guess that week away killed me, eh? I'll be back soon. Until then I'll keep on being,

ASTEELYMAN13

*Unintentional reference to Tokyo Ghoul. I chose green eyes for my mental image of them, and the inverse of green is red. Really, I swear, it was completely unintentional.


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